What type of mecha interface will be available ? Will it be manual only, with joysticks and cockpit glass, reflex where we wear skintight datasuits, and the mech mimics our movements ? Direct neural linkage where our brains are connected directly to the mechs computers, or a hybrid system, where we wear a neurohelmet, and the mech uses limited info from the pilot, such as using the pilots own sense of balance ? (Battletech uses this mostly)

Weight classes with actual numbers in tonnes, and actual heights of the machines in feet or meters, so i can get an idea of the mechs themselves...

Will the mechs computer cores be static fcs only, or will they have the ability to learn (not fully sentient but its an option ) and adapt to the pilot, and grow with the pilot, and be removeable in case the pilot changes mechs ? (I get attached to my machines, and want it to somewhat have a personality of its own.

What type of mecha interface will be available ? Will it be manual only, with joysticks and cockpit glass, reflex where we wear skintight datasuits, and the mech mimics our movements ? Direct neural linkage where our brains are connected directly to the mechs computers, or a hybrid system, where we wear a neurohelmet, and the mech uses limited info from the pilot, such as using the pilots own sense of balance ? (Battletech uses this mostly)

Before I begin, I will say that in this universe, there will not be skintight datasuits like what you see often in anime. Granted, one would want to wear light clothing as a mech's cockpit would heat up after a time. That aside, I imagine the cockpits are the kind one climbs in and sits in front of a board of interfaces. Depending on the mech, the cockpit will either be deeply set into the mech, protecting the pilot from nearly every threat (like the Ragnarok) while lighter mechs could have the pilot viewing everything through a 'glass' (likely something stronger and less likely to break) window. So, for the most part, the interface is similar to Battletech's.

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Weight classes with actual numbers in tonnes, and actual heights of the machines in feet or meters, so i can get an idea of the mechs themselves...

I think the weight classes should be: Power/Battle Armor, Light, Medium, Heavy, and Colossal. Power/Battle Armor is about the size of the Hulkbuster from the Avengers. They usually weigh no more than 5 tons. Light mechs are about 25-30 tons, give or take. Medium mechs are around 50 tons. Heavy mechs are around 75 tons. Colossal mechs, such as the Ragnarok, are 100+ tons. Ragnarok weighs in at about 110 tons. Mechs that fall under the minimal weight class (I.E. a 60 ton mech) would be classed as Medium. A mech must weigh at least 75 tons to be classed as Heavy).

Some things to note: Power/Battle Armor usually can interface with a larger mech, allowing the pilot to take control of it or provide extra firepower and defense. Doing so while someone is piloting the target mech is usually a very bad idea as an interface attempt with an active mech is liable to throw the smaller one off and cause serious damage.

As for the heights, it really depends on if the mech is a biped or multiped. Due to it's design, I'd estimate that Ragnarok stands about 2-3 stories tall, perhaps. I may be under or overestimating since I have never thought of it before. A general rule of thumb is that heavier mechs tend to be larger than smaller ones.

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Will the mechs computer cores be static fcs only, or will they have the ability to learn (not fully sentient but its an option ) and adapt to the pilot, and grow with the pilot, and be removeable in case the pilot changes mechs ? (I get attached to my machines, and want it to somewhat have a personality of its own.

It is possible for mechs to have a low-class A.I. in them to help with controlling it as well as to provide advice for new pilots. However, I doubt that A.I.s would be common. If you're not talking of that, then I must be misunderstanding here....

Not a self aware AI per se, just a removable data core that records how a pilot does things, and makes adjustments to the mechs systems for optimal efficiencies. Low level AIs work too though, im not opposed to that...

I was thinking my test guy could remove his dock from his test / maintenance station and take it with him, he is familiar with the systems on generalised mechs... a computer that talks back and capable of limited independent thought might be interesting, but not a must have...

This one could be something he put together from spare parts, and they have discussions here and there. Not really adding any advantages other that giving the mech a personality

Ooooh! That's what you mean! Okay, I like that idea better. Yes, there will be a data core that records the pilot's personal preferences in a mech. Unless others don't mind there being the occasional low-level A.I. around (They will NOT be common by any means), we'll scrap that idea.

It doesn't really seem too outlandish in a world with lots of mechs that we have safe, portable fusion cores. They wouldn't be particularly "dirty", radiologically speaking (and there could be laws that mandate servicing to remove "hot" components every year or so, to further reduce the resulting radiotoxicity should the reactor be totally destroyed), even if they were totally destroyed, and they could be designed to squelch the reaction quickly in the event of an emergency - the worst case scenario if everything fails is a hell of an explosion, but probably not one that would even raise much of an eyebrow in heavy combat with high-energy warheads going off all around them.

(You wouldn't want to walk around the aftermath of a pitched battle barefoot, but with combat boots and coveralls - and a protective mask - you should be protected enough for safe short-term exposure. It could be standard practice after a major battle to "clean" the battlefield with robots that scoop up the most radioactive material, and after that the area would be perfectly safe.)

I would suggest to King Serperior that he stick with the Ragnarok. It's nice to have at least one big-ass tank on our side.

Regarding spacefaring: Yeah, I don't think it should be a "space-faring setting". At most, some orbital colonies, Lunar colonies, and maybe a Mars colony - but all of these would be pretty spartan affairs, and totally incapable of complete autonomy. There may be some very small amount of coming-and-going between the Earth and the orbital colonies and Lunar colony, but the Mars colony is not the kind of thing one takes a vacation to - it's a year-long round trip at least, and damned expensive. Space tourism might be a thing, though, where people visit the Moon and/or orbital colonies as "theme parks" or spas, etc. - and that's what makes them economically feasible. There may only be a few hundred thousand people in space at any given point, most on the Moon. And transport technology is done the traditional way - no reactionless space drives or anything, just big-ass rockets and/or railgun launchers.

And because none of the colonies are self-sustaining or politically relevant, there is no fighting in space (plus it is technically infeasible).

That makes the setting reasonably futuristic - inline with there being mechs all over the place - without going too far.

Regarding mech classes: I still haven't found a mech pic I like, but I was aiming for a ~20 T mech that is roughly humanoid - bidepal with hands, though a head is not necessary, and it doesn't matter which way the legs bend. It would be a mass-produced multi-role light mech: ~20 T "naked", with none of the modular accessories, but once you add one of the "packages" it will easily exceed 25 T. The main appeal of it would be urban warfare - it could walk down city streets and between buildings without a problem - but it would be adapted to various roles: anti-personnel (maybe miniguns or a flamethrower would be attached), combat engineering (stronger limbs, maybe a crane attachment on the back), sniping (adaptive camouflage plus integration with a sniping weapon for enhanced stability and thus better aim), etc.. My own version would have the ECM package (adaptive camouflage plus various sensing and jamming equipment).

(The adaptive camouflage is just basically a bunch of hexagonal "stickers" pasted over the armour - each about 10 cm diameter - that display various colours. The intent is to image the surroundings, then create a disruptive pattern, like CADPAT, of the right colours. Obviously the mech is not "invisible" - same way a soldier wearing CADPAT is pretty hard to miss. But if the mech is far enough away and stationary, it can be very hard to make out. It's effectively invisible from aerial surveillance, assuming it's somewhere that's visually chaotic enough (like a jungle or rocky terrain - not so much an open field). The stickers will naturally be rendered useless if shot, but they're easily pulled off and replaced... assuming you have replacements (which we won't, at least at first).)

Oh, and regarding AI: I'm not opposed to non-sentient AI (and I agree with Karma - not having it would be weird), but I think there should be a law - set by the UN or whatever exists there - that no weapons system can be autonomous. There must always be a human responsible for pulling the trigger. Autonomous vehicles could (and probably should) be legal, but the moment that vehicle is armed, there must be a human in control. The law could have all kinds of caveats for "smart" weapons, such as that a human can designate a target then let an AI proceed to chase and kill it, but an AI can never choose a target or do anything un-Asimovian of its own volition. (And that includes "saving" a friendly soldier from an enemy - an AI cannot do that, because it means it would be choosing who lives and who dies... not cool.)

Hm, I think that just about covers everything that was mentioned. Did I miss anything important?

It doesn't really seem too outlandish in a world with lots of mechs that we have safe, portable fusion cores. They wouldn't be particularly "dirty", radiologically speaking (and there could be laws that mandate servicing to remove "hot" components every year or so, to further reduce the resulting radiotoxicity should the reactor be totally destroyed), even if they were totally destroyed, and they could be designed to squelch the reaction quickly in the event of an emergency - the worst case scenario if everything fails is a hell of an explosion, but probably not one that would even raise much of an eyebrow in heavy combat with high-energy warheads going off all around them.

(You wouldn't want to walk around the aftermath of a pitched battle barefoot, but with combat boots and coveralls - and a protective mask - you should be protected enough for safe short-term exposure. It could be standard practice after a major battle to "clean" the battlefield with robots that scoop up the most radioactive material, and after that the area would be perfectly safe.)

I would suggest to King Serperior that he stick with the Ragnarok. It's nice to have at least one big-ass tank on our side.

I shall then. I feel that having it's armor and firepower would be dire. I mean, the Ragnarok was designed for lots of arena combat, so in a free-for-all, most foes tend to gang up on it! It needs the armor to withstand the firepower of multiple mechs firing from all directions and fight back!

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Regarding spacefaring: Yeah, I don't think it should be a "space-faring setting". At most, some orbital colonies, Lunar colonies, and maybe a Mars colony - but all of these would be pretty spartan affairs, and totally incapable of complete autonomy. There may be some very small amount of coming-and-going between the Earth and the orbital colonies and Lunar colony, but the Mars colony is not the kind of thing one takes a vacation to - it's a year-long round trip at least, and damned expensive. Space tourism might be a thing, though, where people visit the Moon and/or orbital colonies as "theme parks" or spas, etc. - and that's what makes them economically feasible. There may only be a few hundred thousand people in space at any given point, most on the Moon. And transport technology is done the traditional way - no reactionless space drives or anything, just big-ass rockets and/or railgun launchers.

And because none of the colonies are self-sustaining or politically relevant, there is no fighting in space (plus it is technically infeasible).

That makes the setting reasonably futuristic - inline with there being mechs all over the place - without going too far.

I'd have to agree. I'd need to change some details regarding Angela's background since it says her parents owned factories on Mars, but I agree with everything overall.

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Regarding mech classes: I still haven't found a mech pic I like, but I was aiming for a ~20 T mech that is roughly humanoid - bidepal with hands, though a head is not necessary, and it doesn't matter which way the legs bend. It would be a mass-produced multi-role light mech: ~20 T "naked", with none of the modular accessories, but once you add one of the "packages" it will easily exceed 25 T. The main appeal of it would be urban warfare - it could walk down city streets and between buildings without a problem - but it would be adapted to various roles: anti-personnel (maybe miniguns or a flamethrower would be attached), combat engineering (stronger limbs, maybe a crane attachment on the back), sniping (adaptive camouflage plus integration with a sniping weapon for enhanced stability and thus better aim), etc.. My own version would have the ECM package (adaptive camouflage plus various sensing and jamming equipment).

(The adaptive camouflage is just basically a bunch of hexagonal "stickers" pasted over the armour - each about 10 cm diameter - that display various colours. The intent is to image the surroundings, then create a disruptive pattern, like CADPAT, of the right colours. Obviously the mech is not "invisible" - same way a soldier wearing CADPAT is pretty hard to miss. But if the mech is far enough away and stationary, it can be very hard to make out. It's effectively invisible from aerial surveillance, assuming it's somewhere that's visually chaotic enough (like a jungle or rocky terrain - not so much an open field). The stickers will naturally be rendered useless if shot, but they're easily pulled off and replaced... assuming you have replacements (which we won't, at least at first).)

Nice idea! If you want, I can look up some things. I would say that Miniguns shouldn't be on any mech lighter than Medium. Instead, standard machine guns would be better for lighter mechs. I'll be adapting the special systems on the Ragnarok to make it better for tanking hits since it's size and lack of speed makes it an obvious target on the battlefield. Otherwise, I like what you are thinking.

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Oh, and regarding AI: I'm not opposed to non-sentient AI (and I agree with Karma - not having it would be weird), but I think there should be a law - set by the UN or whatever exists there - that no weapons system can be autonomous. There must always be a human responsible for pulling the trigger. Autonomous vehicles could (and probably should) be legal, but the moment that vehicle is armed, there must be a human in control. The law could have all kinds of caveats for "smart" weapons, such as that a human can designate a target then let an AI proceed to chase and kill it, but an AI can never choose a target or do anything un-Asimovian of its own volition. (And that includes "saving" a friendly soldier from an enemy - an AI cannot do that, because it means it would be choosing who lives and who dies... not cool.)

Hm, I think that just about covers everything that was mentioned. Did I miss anything important?

*Nods* I think that's about everything and I completely agree on the A.I. not being allowed to fire weapons.

In regards to my characters AI, I was thinking an earlier model, old and obsolete, but through my charaters rigging parts together he makes something that is fairly competitive with the current mark 6... granted it would be quirky and tempermental, but a good system nonetheless.

Right now its just something he uses to help him run automatic tests on mech components, and play an occasional game of chess. We can say my charater is a part time hacker, not really skilled but knows enough to be dangerous.

Since mechs often have security and anti theft interlocks involved, and he is not really a mech pilot, he could use this AI to hijack whatever chassis of oportunity presents itself, and launch from the ship just in the nick of time after a few problems...

Yeah, I'd say fusion reactors are probably standard for heavy mechs. For light mechs like my own, probably a battery. (Which means my character would have to rely on yours for recharging - another reason she'll grudgingly agree to having company.) Under heavy use (which will certainly be the case for us), I'd say the battery would need recharging for an hour or three every few days or so.

I feel that having it's armor and firepower would be dire. I mean, the Ragnarok was designed for lots of arena combat, so in a free-for-all, most foes tend to gang up on it! It needs the armor to withstand the firepower of multiple mechs firing from all directions and fight back!

And, on the flip side, there would be Angela's motivation for not wanting to simply strike off on her own. While she can easily go toe-to-toe with small numbers of bigger mechs, she'll need smaller mech allies to swat the flies off or she can be defeated easily be being swarmed by power suits or small drones.

I'd need to change some details regarding Angela's background since it says her parents owned factories on Mars, but I agree with everything overall.

Nah! I mean, if they live on the Moon (or at least stayed there often enough for Angela to be born there), that would imply that they're a) wealthy (which would also explain how Angela could afford to get into mech fighting as a sport), and b) invested in colonization. They could be the financiers and/owners of a couple of autonomous factories on Mars, that are engaged in some kind of production to facilitate colonization. (They could even be terraforming factories.)

~5 T backpack with ECM equipment - some of which is integrated with the mech - including:

Radar (primarily "upwards" facing - not very useful along the ground, but rather is for spotting and "painting" aircraft).

Lidar (primarily for ground sensing - used to create terrain maps that are shared among combat units, and for detection and "painting" of targets).

Extended-range imaging (infrared and ultraviolet) - used in conjunction with lidar/radar for spotting and "painting".

Chaff - shells fired upward for blinding/confusing radar (including its own, sadly). The cartridges can be timed to explode a variable length of time after launching. The chaff falls slowly, like confetti, so is only good for a few minutes at a time. Starts loaded with 100 cartridges.

Decoy balloon - shells fired upward that burst and expand into small balloon that hangs chaff from it. Can stay in the air for the better part of an hour, but can be blown away in high winds. Starts loaded with 12 cartridges.

Full spectrum antenna and broadcast unit - used to detect signals, and transmit confusing or "ghost" signals. These can be defeated, but it requires manual tuning to filter out (and then the fake signals can be adjusted to get around the filters, lather, rinse, repeat).

Satellite detection - if the sky is clear, can detect the presence of satellites overhead, and identify them using a database of registered satellites (for being aware of when enemy spy or tracking satellites are coming into range).

Fully-automatic flechette gun, mounted on right forearm - not capable of penetrating even light armour, primarily an anti-personnel weapon. Starts loaded with thousands of flechettes.

Combination shield/pile-driver, mounted on left forearm - provides a small area of heavy armour (mostly just big enough to protect the cockpit when raised), and a gas-powered piston with a spike on the end for penetrating light-to-medium armour at close range (like, really close range).

As you can see, she doesn't start with any real weapons, so she'll grab whatever happens to be handy. I imagine after the first engagement or two, she'll pick up a shotgun or machine gun or three, and use them until they're out of ammo. With a modular mech, she can pretty much use any other modular (that is, "hand"-held) weapon that isn't absurdly heavy, though the bigger/heavier the weapon, the more mobility she sacrifices. (I'd say she might be able to lift a beam weapon, and fire it... but wouldn't be able to move around with it. And of course, with heavy weapons or artillery, she'd need to brace it or the recoil would knock her back on her ass.) Eventually she'll probably find a weapon she can actually claim and keep.

I think that's about everything and I completely agree on the A.I. not being allowed to fire weapons.

Yeah, I also wanted to avoid the idea of having mechs as autonomous characters. I wanted to avoid "easy outs" like if someone runs into an enemy patrol on foot, they can just trust their mech to get them out of it. It's much nicer for the game if they're forced to rely on other characters.

I was planning of having my mech "remote controllable"... but from an actual remote control (like a game controller, but obviously more advanced) connected by wire (not wireless, because that can be hacked, and then my mech would be someone else's mech) - or at the most, direct line of sight control by light pulses, but only when enabled. And even then, the remote control is very limited to only pre-programmed operations - it's not even close to being a replacement for a pilot actually in the cockpit. (The intention for the remote control was so that she could load the mech into containers, onto trucks, and so on, without actually being inside. And so that she can have it crouch to disembark, then from outside make it stand so it's a little harder for anyone to climb into and mess with the controls. Or so that she could get out, scout ahead on foot to see if the mech can get closer to a target without being seen, then control it to approach when it's clear. There is no way she could actually engage in combat remotely.)

Oh, I forgot to mention, about the "data suits" thing: I was going to have my character's "standard" piloting suit be a form-fitting suit, though the only "data link" it will have is that it will have a built in ECG (among other things) that, when plugged in, allow the mech to monitor her vitals. The suit has some "smart" systems built in that can do stuff like juice her with stimulants on demand, or morphine if necessary, and various other stuff to help keep her alive and fighting. It can also be set to "self-destruct" the mech when her vitals cease - which is something I figure pilots would normally do when going into combat in enemy territory, or when there's a plausible chance their mech would be captured.

She will pilot the mech normally by sitting in a seat/harness thing that she slides into, then it inflates around her to lock her in and cushion her (from the kind of impacts you expect when mechs fight). Normally she'd control it with a pair of pedals, and a fighter-plane-like control stick on each side, but she can switch to "puppet" mode on any combination of her hands, arms, and legs for fine grained control of posture, hand position, etc.. How about that?

At any rate, her flight suit is not part of the piloting system - it's just a souped-up futuristic g-suit with some telemetry to monitor her vitals; it's for keeping her alive while getting knocked around inside a mech, not piloting. In fact, at the beginning - before she sets all that up - I figured she will at first be piloting the mech dressed something like this.

Alright, from the looks of things, we have a mega-heavy brick and a light and fast recon type. My recommendation is that my character starts with a mass produced 55 ton medium chassis for rank and file soldiers. It starts off entry level, but was made to be heavily modular and upgrading it later should be fairly easy. It has 2 modular hardpoints, one on each shoulder, and 2 modular weapon bays, each located on either side of the torso. These bays can mount light, medium, and heavy weapons, with the drawback being that the heavier the weapons are, the more cost to its agility. Its powerplant is a cheap, mass produced fusion reactor, allowing for modest movement. Its starting armor is fair.Its communications package and sensor suite are all standard issue, nothing that stands out or is completely useless. The chassis also carries a rudimentary jump-jet system.

Its interface is similar to what is seen in Battletech, where the pilot wears a neuro-helmet, which monitors his brain waves and reacts accordingly. The pilot also wears a cooling/shock absorber vest, which ties directly into the mech's coolant system.

All of its systems were designed to be versatile, with an emphasis on ease of repair. It was anticipated that this chassis would be the workhorse of the main force, with any and all components being easily swapped out in the field. Its hands and arms allow it to use most mecha scale hand weapons.

The situation is that this fresh chassis was brought to my character for maintenance/repair, as it was having serious trouble with its fire control system. All of its weapons were stripped for running diagnostics on the hardpoints and equipment bays.

Diagnostics were completed successfully with the AI's help (Whom I will call "RADU-II" for the moment, or "Reclaimed Automatic Diagnostic Unit Mark 2") and he was about to load the weapons bays, when suddenly the shit hits the fan... He has no time and has to escape the ship. He grabs RADU, interfaces him with the chassis, speeds through the startup sequences, and powers up the mecha. The only weapon he has time to grab is a mecha scaled 4x medium laser array. This is a good all purpose medium ranged weapon, not unlike a mech sized assault rifle. It draws its power from the mecha's main reactor core, but if not used carefully can be prone to overheating... as the adventure progresses we can outfit his mech with whatever is available from salvage...

He is mostly unarmed but not completely helpless, and should fill the gap between our heavy and light mech nicely. The idea was for a general purpose unit thats good for most situations. He can give heavier backup to the lighter mech in a pinch, or help defend the rear of the larger heavier mech from any ambitious punks who like to stab others in the back.

Yeah, I'd say fusion reactors are probably standard for heavy mechs. For light mechs like my own, probably a battery. (Which means my character would have to rely on yours for recharging - another reason she'll grudgingly agree to having company.) Under heavy use (which will certainly be the case for us), I'd say the battery would need recharging for an hour or three every few days or so.

And, on the flip side, there would be Angela's motivation for not wanting to simply strike off on her own. While she can easily go toe-to-toe with small numbers of bigger mechs, she'll need smaller mech allies to swat the flies off or she can be defeated easily be being swarmed by power suits or small drones.

I agree with both terms. It'll force them into an uneasy alliance (perhaps more uneasily for your character than Angela). To make matters worse, since Angela will have the slowest mech of the group, your character's want to get out of dodge will only happen as fast as Angela's mech can go. Overall, I am liking the arrangement more and more.

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Nah! I mean, if they live on the Moon (or at least stayed there often enough for Angela to be born there), that would imply that they're a) wealthy (which would also explain how Angela could afford to get into mech fighting as a sport), and b) invested in colonization. They could be the financiers and/owners of a couple of autonomous factories on Mars, that are engaged in some kind of production to facilitate colonization. (They could even be terraforming factories.)

You make a good point. Just some minor edits overall to show that. On the other side, if anyone watches the Mech Fighting, they may recognize the Ragnarok for what it is. Who knows, maybe there is a fan in a high place who wants to get her mech back in the arena.

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Ah, yeah.

I was thinking of having my character's mech armed with a fully automatic flechette gun, bolted onto its right wrist. (Not an anti-mech weapon, obviously, but rather anti-personnel.)

~5 T backpack with ECM equipment - some of which is integrated with the mech - including:

Radar (primarily "upwards" facing - not very useful along the ground, but rather is for spotting and "painting" aircraft).

Lidar (primarily for ground sensing - used to create terrain maps that are shared among combat units, and for detection and "painting" of targets).

Extended-range imaging (infrared and ultraviolet) - used in conjunction with lidar/radar for spotting and "painting".

Chaff - shells fired upward for blinding/confusing radar (including its own, sadly). The cartridges can be timed to explode a variable length of time after launching. The chaff falls slowly, like confetti, so is only good for a few minutes at a time. Starts loaded with 100 cartridges.

Decoy balloon - shells fired upward that burst and expand into small balloon that hangs chaff from it. Can stay in the air for the better part of an hour, but can be blown away in high winds. Starts loaded with 12 cartridges.

Full spectrum antenna and broadcast unit - used to detect signals, and transmit confusing or "ghost" signals. These can be defeated, but it requires manual tuning to filter out (and then the fake signals can be adjusted to get around the filters, lather, rinse, repeat).

Satellite detection - if the sky is clear, can detect the presence of satellites overhead, and identify them using a database of registered satellites (for being aware of when enemy spy or tracking satellites are coming into range).

Fully-automatic flechette gun, mounted on right forearm - not capable of penetrating even light armour, primarily an anti-personnel weapon. Starts loaded with thousands of flechettes.

Combination shield/pile-driver, mounted on left forearm - provides a small area of heavy armour (mostly just big enough to protect the cockpit when raised), and a gas-powered piston with a spike on the end for penetrating light-to-medium armour at close range (like, really close range).

As you can see, she doesn't start with any real weapons, so she'll grab whatever happens to be handy. I imagine after the first engagement or two, she'll pick up a shotgun or machine gun or three, and use them until they're out of ammo. With a modular mech, she can pretty much use any other modular (that is, "hand"-held) weapon that isn't absurdly heavy, though the bigger/heavier the weapon, the more mobility she sacrifices. (I'd say she might be able to lift a beam weapon, and fire it... but wouldn't be able to move around with it. And of course, with heavy weapons or artillery, she'd need to brace it or the recoil would knock her back on her ass.) Eventually she'll probably find a weapon she can actually claim and keep.

What do you think?

It all looks good to me. The Ragnarok only has the basic targeting and communication equipment since it was designed for arena combat. After all, you don't need advanced sensors and communication when you know just how the arenas are shaped up to be. So, she'll depend on smaller mechs like your character's to help lock onto targets after a certain distance.

That'll be Angela's goal: Finding better sensor and communication equipment and installing more long-term weaponry, such as energy or plasma-based ones. Ammo for the Minigun and Missiles for the Missile Pod should be fairly easy to come by. Rail Gun ammo, however, would be much more difficult unless they hit a supply depot.

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Yeah, I also wanted to avoid the idea of having mechs as autonomous characters. I wanted to avoid "easy outs" like if someone runs into an enemy patrol on foot, they can just trust their mech to get them out of it. It's much nicer for the game if they're forced to rely on other characters.

I was planning of having my mech "remote controllable"... but from an actual remote control (like a game controller, but obviously more advanced) connected by wire (not wireless, because that can be hacked, and then my mech would be someone else's mech) - or at the most, direct line of sight control by light pulses, but only when enabled. And even then, the remote control is very limited to only pre-programmed operations - it's not even close to being a replacement for a pilot actually in the cockpit. (The intention for the remote control was so that she could load the mech into containers, onto trucks, and so on, without actually being inside. And so that she can have it crouch to disembark, then from outside make it stand so it's a little harder for anyone to climb into and mess with the controls. Or so that she could get out, scout ahead on foot to see if the mech can get closer to a target without being seen, then control it to approach when it's clear. There is no way she could actually engage in combat remotely.)

Oh, I forgot to mention, about the "data suits" thing: I was going to have my character's "standard" piloting suit be a form-fitting suit, though the only "data link" it will have is that it will have a built in ECG (among other things) that, when plugged in, allow the mech to monitor her vitals. The suit has some "smart" systems built in that can do stuff like juice her with stimulants on demand, or morphine if necessary, and various other stuff to help keep her alive and fighting. It can also be set to "self-destruct" the mech when her vitals cease - which is something I figure pilots would normally do when going into combat in enemy territory, or when there's a plausible chance their mech would be captured.

She will pilot the mech normally by sitting in a seat/harness thing that she slides into, then it inflates around her to lock her in and cushion her (from the kind of impacts you expect when mechs fight). Normally she'd control it with a pair of pedals, and a fighter-plane-like control stick on each side, but she can switch to "puppet" mode on any combination of her hands, arms, and legs for fine grained control of posture, hand position, etc.. How about that?

At any rate, her flight suit is not part of the piloting system - it's just a souped-up futuristic g-suit with some telemetry to monitor her vitals; it's for keeping her alive while getting knocked around inside a mech, not piloting. In fact, at the beginning - before she sets all that up - I figured she will at first be piloting the mech dressed something like this.

That all sounds good to me. Of course, Angela's mech won't have a 'self-destruct' feature since her mech could be towed off the battlefield it was designed for if defeated. I like everything though. You've got some great ideas.

Alright, from the looks of things, we have a mega-heavy brick and a light and fast recon type. My recommendation is that my character starts with a mass produced 55 ton medium chassis for rank and file soldiers. It starts off entry level, but was made to be heavily modular and upgrading it later should be fairly easy. It has 2 modular hardpoints, one on each shoulder, and 2 modular weapon bays, each located on either side of the torso. These bays can mount light, medium, and heavy weapons, with the drawback being that the heavier the weapons are, the more cost to its agility. Its powerplant is a cheap, mass produced fusion reactor, allowing for modest movement. Its starting armor is fair.Its communications package and sensor suite are all standard issue, nothing that stands out or is completely useless. The chassis also carries a rudimentary jump-jet system.

Its interface is similar to what is seen in Battletech, where the pilot wears a neuro-helmet, which monitors his brain waves and reacts accordingly. The pilot also wears a cooling/shock absorber vest, which ties directly into the mech's coolant system.

All of its systems were designed to be versatile, with an emphasis on ease of repair. It was anticipated that this chassis would be the workhorse of the main force, with any and all components being easily swapped out in the field. Its hands and arms allow it to use most mecha scale hand weapons.

The situation is that this fresh chassis was brought to my character for maintenance/repair, as it was having serious trouble with its fire control system. All of its weapons were stripped for running diagnostics on the hardpoints and equipment bays.

Diagnostics were completed successfully with the AI's help (Whom I will call "RADU-II" for the moment, or "Reclaimed Automatic Diagnostic Unit Mark 2") and he was about to load the weapons bays, when suddenly the shit hits the fan... He has no time and has to escape the ship. He grabs RADU, interfaces him with the chassis, speeds through the startup sequences, and powers up the mecha. The only weapon he has time to grab is a mecha scaled 4x medium laser array. This is a good all purpose medium ranged weapon, not unlike a mech sized assault rifle. It draws its power from the mecha's main reactor core, but if not used carefully can be prone to overheating... as the adventure progresses we can outfit his mech with whatever is available from salvage...

He is mostly unarmed but not completely helpless, and should fill the gap between our heavy and light mech nicely. The idea was for a general purpose unit thats good for most situations. He can give heavier backup to the lighter mech in a pinch, or help defend the rear of the larger heavier mech from any ambitious punks who like to stab others in the back.

Everything looks and sounds good to me. I guess this jump-jet system is mainly for slowing down to a controlled fall rather than leaping over gaps? Medium weight classes likely only have such basic systems while Heavy and Colossal have no jump-jets, for obvious reasons.

Overall, I am liking what I am seeing. *nod*

So, what we have so far is: A cocky arena combatant with a massive mech designed to shrug off attacks and destroy anything in it's way; A technician/theorist with a Power/Battle Armor; A military rank who is very cautious and comes with a mech bristling with technology and nearly no firepower; and a rather inexperienced test technician with a nearly unarmed mech.

Okay, a bit of a double post, so apologies for that, but I have some updated statistics for the Ragnarok (Keep in mind that this is an arena mech and often was used in lengthy engagements against multiple opponents):

Mech Class: Colossal (110 tons without ammo; About 125 tons fully loaded)Mech Name: RagnarokDescription: Ragnarok is a large, somewhat squat, Hexapod mech with thick armor plating covering most of the mech's body. Due to it's increased weight and the way it's legs are designed, it is not very fast or agile. It's thick legs instead provide stability when firing it's weapons, no matter the terrain. Each leg has gripping claws that allow it to grip the ground and stand it's ground while the pilot aims and fires it's weaponry. Ragnarok has the Blair Factory Logo printed on it to represent it's pilot's family's factories. Other than that, it can easily be painted multiple coloration, but it is usually a rusty brown, giving it the illusion of it being little more than a giant rust bucket. The main gun is the largest and most central of the armaments and is the most powerful ranged weapon the Ragnarok has (Though a full barrage of missiles outdoes it). The Minigun is more for closer work and the missile pod is for pinning down targets until Ragnarok can bring it's other weapons to bear. The heavy armor on the legs provide additional protection.Weapons:Rail Gun: Central weapon and main gun, the Rail Gun fires a long piece of hardened Tungsten that is designed to penetrate even through cover. It can only fire one shot before requiring reloading and requires a three second charge time before firing. However, once fired, the seven pound projectile travels at speeds that exceed Mach 5, making a direct hit devastating. It takes 10 seconds to load up a new projectile. The Rail Gun has a total of 100 projectiles, more than four times the number she would ever need, theoretically anyway. Most Rail Guns only take in 10 due to the weight each projectile is, but that increased weight isn't a problem for Ragnarok.Minigun: Mounted just above and to the right of the main gun, the Minigun is designed for closer work than the Rail Gun and can help pin down a target while the main gun charges and takes aim. The minigun fires depleted uranium rounds that can tear apart smaller mechs. Fully loaded, the minigun has a total of 720,000 rounds of ammo and the gun fires at a rate of 12,000 rounds per minute. It takes about a second for the barrel to spin up before it fires.2x 14-Missile Pods: Featuring 14 explosive high-yield missiles, these pods are mounted on the just above, behind, and to the left and right of the main gun in a half-hexagonal, half-cube launcher whose safety covering can flick open to rain either direct or suppressing fire on the targets. Each missile carries a high-yield payload and travels at 350 mph towards its target. Each missile can be fired either individually or at the same time as any number of others, providing either precise attacks or an overwhelming assault. Each pod has three full pods of replacements, totaling 84 missiles overall, though the missile pods must be emptied before the replacement set can be loaded (which takes up to thirty seconds). The Missile Pods are set on rotating turrets and, as such, are currently only weapons that can be fired backwards on Ragnarok. It is mainly used to pin down a target, get them out of cover, or for pure offensive purposes.

Subsystems:Ammo Delivery System: Halves the time it takes to reload ammo. Extremely important for the Rail Gun's lower reload rate.Target Lock: Makes the Rail Gun and Missile System much more accurate and deadly.Fortress Armour: The mech doesn't need speed, rather it needs heavy armor to survive in the arena while picking off targets. Instead of maneuverability, it uses it's armored legs as a stabilizing platform to steady each and every shot, no matter the terrain.Basic Sensors and Communications Equipment: Designed for the arena, these sensors and communications are of limited range.

So, what I changed was upping the Ragnarok's ammo supply. Fully loaded, the Ragnarok weighs about 125 tons. That still gives it some wriggle room for additional weapons as I suspect it's maximum carry weight is somewhere around 150 tons.

To make matters worse, since Angela will have the slowest mech of the group, your character's want to get out of dodge will only happen as fast as Angela's mech can go.

Not only that, it will limit the terrain they can move over - restricting the potential routes they can take. In fact, my character's mech will probably be the most versatile, terrain-wise - hers may be the only one that could make it through dense forest or really uneven, rocky terrain. Allying with everyone else will mean sacrificing her mobility and stealth, and forcing her to rely on everyone else's firepower. This will not make her happy.

On other notes, I think I'm going to have to up her mech's weight to 30 T. The reason is I found a 20 T mech design I like - the "Mist Lynx", but when I started to wonder where the pilot would fit, I discovered this. Turns out that 20 T is just too small for a mech, in reality.

So I've upped it to 30 T (still half the size of a contemporary tank), and I think I'll use the Arctic Cheetah model. (I've got an image I'll colourize the way I want.)

On another note, I think it's finally time to start giving some more details of my actual character.

Her name is going to be Lt. Deepika Patel - she'll go by D.P., Deepi, or Deep. Her call sign will be "Thumper", but her mech won't have a name (it's actually her third, and she doesn't really treat it all that well). She'll be ~25-27 (still some details to be ironed out) and close to a promotion to Captain (something she'll probably be bemoaning that the crash has probably thrown a wrench into). Personality-wise, the nearest thing I can think of would be Jack O'Neill from Stargate SG-1. She'll have a very dry sense of humour, and deliberately pretend to be less intelligent than she is in order to keep people off balance. But unlike O'Neill, she'll be much more deceptive, scheming, and manipulative.

She was one of those "troubled youth" - not violent, but she was a thief, a con artist, and frequently drunk and/or high - and was in and out of foster homes and Juvy. She would never have dreamed of joining the military, but when she was arrested just after turning 18, the judge thought it would be a good idea to give her the choice to either enlist, or go to adult jail with an adult criminal record. There were people waiting for her in prison - people who were there because of her shenanigans - so she opted for enlistment, not just to keep her record clean, but to stay alive. Even then, she never really planned to be a real soldier; she figured on faking an injury then living off the benefits. That plan changed quickly one she got her first military paycheck. She also realized the rigidity and structure of the military were the perfect place for someone who knew how to play systems to get ahead in. She ended up with a string of disciplinary infractions, but she did manage to get ahead - it turns out that her gift for running scams was really a gift for strategy in general.

She's not a "good solider" by any definition, and she's a competent but not great pilot, but she is an exceptionally skilled strategist - she has managed to find success in the military mostly by avoiding trouble, rather than charging into fights with guns blazing. She is the darling of commanders who only care about results (and who are willing to tolerate her attitude and lack of decorum - or who actually find her insouciance amusing), but her unorthodox and underhanded methods, and lack of polish, have earned her more than a few commanders who would prefer to see her drummed out of the service. On balance her career isn't advancing as fast is it theoretically could, but she is still advancing.

From her perspective, she will have no motivation to help any of the others. They're not her responsibility. The encryption codes in her mech are. What she should do is burn all her mech systems, then surrender to the local authorities... after all, she's an innocent crash victim. But she knows damn well that they will assume she's a spy and torture her... then if she's really lucky they'll make a public spectacle of "returning" her - humiliating her and effectively ending her military career. If she's less lucky, execution as a spy. On the other hand, by not surrendering and travelling across a foreign country in an armed mech, she's taking the risk that even if she gets back to safe territory, she'll be arrested and charged for violating international laws. She's gambling that if she can actually bring the mech and its encryption keys back safely, she'll get a reprieve, and maybe - just maybe - get a hero's welcome.

So from her perspective, "baby-sitting" is the last thing she wants to do. But on the other hand, she's fully aware that if she leaves anyone, they'll be arrested, tortured, and probably executed as a spy. So if she can manage to bring them back safely, too, that might increase her chances of getting that hero's welcome. Of course, that means she has to keep them in line so they can actually make it, without bringing the whole enemy army down on them.

(Geussing here) The lighter mechs 120ish kph or more, mine would be 95ish kph... I assume the Behemoth would plod along in the high fourties?

Well, a mech's top speed tends to depend on it's armament and whether it is Bipedal or not. Jump Jets also factor into speed as well. So, I guess as a rule of thumb, here are the approximate speeds of each weight class, assuming they are bipedal:

Battle/Power Armor: ~150-200kph, depending on how it's designed.Light: Maybe about 120kph maximum.Medium: I was thinking about 90kph, give or take.Heavy: Closer to about 60-70kph, but likely less than that.Colossal: I'd estimate these rarely get above 50kph. More than likely, they average around 40kph.

I would say that the Ragnarok currently maxes at 30kph due to it's weight and hexapod design. That's still decently quick for a 125 ton mech!

Not only that, it will limit the terrain they can move over - restricting the potential routes they can take. In fact, my character's mech will probably be the most versatile, terrain-wise - hers may be the only one that could make it through dense forest or really uneven, rocky terrain. Allying with everyone else will mean sacrificing her mobility and stealth, and forcing her to rely on everyone else's firepower. This will not make her happy.

Indeed, though I think the Ragnarok can handle decently rough terrain due to a combination of it's multiple legs and the gripping claws at the end of each of them. However, I agree with your assessment.

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On other notes, I think I'm going to have to up her mech's weight to 30 T. The reason is I found a 20 T mech design I like - the "Mist Lynx", but when I started to wonder where the pilot would fit, I discovered this. Turns out that 20 T is just too small for a mech, in reality.

So I've upped it to 30 T (still half the size of a contemporary tank), and I think I'll use the Arctic Cheetah model. (I've got an image I'll colourize the way I want.)

Sounds perfectly reasonable. I think the Cheeta model works very well for the mech you have described.

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On another note, I think it's finally time to start giving some more details of my actual character.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Her name is going to be Lt. Deepika Patel - she'll go by D.P., Deepi, or Deep. Her call sign will be "Thumper", but her mech won't have a name (it's actually her third, and she doesn't really treat it all that well). She'll be ~25-27 (still some details to be ironed out) and close to a promotion to Captain (something she'll probably be bemoaning that the crash has probably thrown a wrench into). Personality-wise, the nearest thing I can think of would be Jack O'Neill from Stargate SG-1. She'll have a very dry sense of humour, and deliberately pretend to be less intelligent than she is in order to keep people off balance. But unlike O'Neill, she'll be much more deceptive, scheming, and manipulative.

She was one of those "troubled youth" - not violent, but she was a thief, a con artist, and frequently drunk and/or high - and was in and out of foster homes and Juvy. She would never have dreamed of joining the military, but when she was arrested just after turning 18, the judge thought it would be a good idea to give her the choice to either enlist, or go to adult jail with an adult criminal record. There were people waiting for her in prison - people who were there because of her shenanigans - so she opted for enlistment, not just to keep her record clean, but to stay alive. Even then, she never really planned to be a real soldier; she figured on faking an injury then living off the benefits. That plan changed quickly one she got her first military paycheck. She also realized the rigidity and structure of the military were the perfect place for someone who knew how to play systems to get ahead in. She ended up with a string of disciplinary infractions, but she did manage to get ahead - it turns out that her gift for running scams was really a gift for strategy in general.

She's not a "good solider" by any definition, and she's a competent but not great pilot, but she is an exceptionally skilled strategist - she has managed to find success in the military mostly by avoiding trouble, rather than charging into fights with guns blazing. She is the darling of commanders who only care about results (and who are willing to tolerate her attitude and lack of decorum - or who actually find her insouciance amusing), but her unorthodox and underhanded methods, and lack of polish, have earned her more than a few commanders who would prefer to see her drummed out of the service. On balance her career isn't advancing as fast is it theoretically could, but she is still advancing.

From her perspective, she will have no motivation to help any of the others. They're not her responsibility. The encryption codes in her mech are. What she should do is burn all her mech systems, then surrender to the local authorities... after all, she's an innocent crash victim. But she knows damn well that they will assume she's a spy and torture her... then if she's really lucky they'll make a public spectacle of "returning" her - humiliating her and effectively ending her military career. If she's less lucky, execution as a spy. On the other hand, by not surrendering and travelling across a foreign country in an armed mech, she's taking the risk that even if she gets back to safe territory, she'll be arrested and charged for violating international laws. She's gambling that if she can actually bring the mech and its encryption keys back safely, she'll get a reprieve, and maybe - just maybe - get a hero's welcome.

So from her perspective, "baby-sitting" is the last thing she wants to do. But on the other hand, she's fully aware that if she leaves anyone, they'll be arrested, tortured, and probably executed as a spy. So if she can manage to bring them back safely, too, that might increase her chances of getting that hero's welcome. Of course, that means she has to keep them in line so they can actually make it, without bringing the whole enemy army down on them.

With that attitude, she and Angela might end up butting heads a bit. Angela's more of the kind to make a foolhardy charge and try to crush the foe under overwhelming firepower than turn tail and retreat. Doesn't mean she won't retreat, but rather she has learned that the Ragnarok isn't designed for 'sneaking' and retreat and hiding is difficult with her mech, if near impossible. Overall, I like the character!

Hmm, makes me wonder if any of them would recognize Angela and the Ragnarok since they have been in the arena for 3-5 years or so?

I'd like to keep Athena's general personality and concept intact from the Pacific Rim game, as well as her mech concept. While she's competent in a standard mech and has worked on them for years, her baby is her newer nested mecha project. She will still have designed her power armor to make it simpler to do maintenance on and on-the-fly fabricate new designs without the aid of external sources or machinery, and it's how she prefers to get around in general, she has leveraged the power armor design to effectively create "power armor for the power armor" that stands on even footing with other mechs in terms of size and payload. The designs generally focus on the dynamic nature of a humanoid mech, especially agility. They aren't going to be particularly good for long deployments, though, because it's pretty physically demanding to pilot one of them, and while the armor has outstanding impact absorption, the pilot will still feel damage much more obviously than a standard mech would translate to its pilot, who would be strapped into a chair instead.

I'd like to keep Athena's general personality and concept intact from the Pacific Rim game, as well as her mech concept. While she's competent in a standard mech and has worked on them for years, her baby is her newer nested mecha project. She will still have designed her power armor to make it simpler to do maintenance on and on-the-fly fabricate new designs without the aid of external sources or machinery, and it's how she prefers to get around in general, she has leveraged the power armor design to effectively create "power armor for the power armor" that stands on even footing with other mechs in terms of size and payload. The designs generally focus on the dynamic nature of a humanoid mech, especially agility. They aren't going to be particularly good for long deployments, though, because it's pretty physically demanding to pilot one of them, and while the armor has outstanding impact absorption, the pilot will still feel damage much more obviously than a standard mech would translate to its pilot, who would be strapped into a chair instead.

So, what you are saying is that she controls a Battle/Power Armor that can dock into a larger mech (perhaps Medium?)? The only problem I can see is that not only would both mechs require extra power, but how would maintenance and repair work for them? I'm just trying to understand how the mech idea works in this setting.

The larger mech doesn't work on its own, and it works on a force amplification principle, similar to real exosuits. It doesn't need immense amounts of power because rather than providing the full force on its own, it instead takes the force put in and makes it greater. (I'm not fully versed in how this works in real life but it can be seen in simple applications such as levers and pulleys, and it used in real technology). Both suits have their own power source that work together when the suits are combined. Not sure what you're looking for as far as maintenance, it's not magical tech or anything, and she could work on it like anything else.

In the robotech "invid invasion " setting, the alpha an beta veritechs could dock with one another for travel purposes, the alpha transferring some of its power to the betas larger engines, allowing for faster travel of both mechs...

In the casg of the Ragnorok and the Powered suit, it would draw power from the bigger mechs reactor, making weapon discharges more powerful, while the pilot of the Ragnorok would not have to worry so much about that particular firing arc where the power armor is docked ? Like having a symbiotic turret etc ?

Realistically the power armor would only work with exosuits designed for it. It's too big for a traditional cockpit and it's not designed to interface with other mechs. It's not going to Gurren Lagann anybody, haha. This requirement makes it pretty limited in scope and if Athena's custom built mech is damaged beyond repair she'd have to literally build another one.

The larger mech doesn't work on its own, and it works on a force amplification principle, similar to real exosuits. It doesn't need immense amounts of power because rather than providing the full force on its own, it instead takes the force put in and makes it greater. (I'm not fully versed in how this works in real life but it can be seen in simple applications such as levers and pulleys, and it used in real technology). Both suits have their own power source that work together when the suits are combined. Not sure what you're looking for as far as maintenance, it's not magical tech or anything, and she could work on it like anything else.

I think I get what you are saying. The main concern I have is what would happen to the larger, outer mech while the smaller one is 'disconnected?' I guess what I am trying to say that if the larger one is damaged, how much would that limit the usage of the smaller one?

In the robotech "invid invasion " setting, the alpha an beta veritechs could dock with one another for travel purposes, the alpha transferring some of its power to the betas larger engines, allowing for faster travel of both mechs...

In the casg of the Ragnorok and the Powered suit, it would draw power from the bigger mechs reactor, making weapon discharges more powerful, while the pilot of the Ragnorok would not have to worry so much about that particular firing arc where the power armor is docked ? Like having a symbiotic turret etc ?

I get what you are saying and that idea is good, having the power armor leap on Ragnarok's back and protect it's blind spots.

Realistically the power armor would only work with exosuits designed for it. It's too big for a traditional cockpit and it's not designed to interface with other mechs. It's not going to Gurren Lagann anybody, haha. This requirement makes it pretty limited in scope and if Athena's custom built mech is damaged beyond repair she'd have to literally build another one.

Okay, so 'linking up' for support is out and that's perfectly fine. I'm still concerned about the custom suit's lack of overall adaptability in the way that she'd need to build an entirely new one. That said, there is the chance to find parts to repair if things go wrong. Though Angela's not a technician, I know she's willing to cannibalize other mecha for parts and/or weapons if the Ragnarok takes damage, going so far as to detach two of it's legs for the sake of mobility.

Well, Athena is a genius, and the outer suit is built mostly with relatively basic physics-based machinery rather than seriously advanced electronics or AI. It's more like Cloud's sword in Advent Children than anything, haha. The power armor on its own will be very fast and agile. It would be used for stealth, pinpoint strikes, sabotage, planting bombs, etc. It might even be the superior combatant in an area with cover, trees, buildings, etc but wouldn't be much good on an open plain. Worst case scenario, its destroyed and she pilots a stolen standard mech in the meantime.

Will there be the possibility of a mobile field base later in the game ? similar to what was seen in mechwarrior 3?

(Essentially 3 military grade transports that carried 300 tons of whatever, spare weapons, armor, engines, and the backs of them could unfold to make a field hangar for repairs...)

Will it be just us or will there be other survivors from the crash that we could make into a provisional company ? Possibly an NPC that was able to jump in a tank, deploy its parachutes and land somewhere, and meet up with us later ?